Reversing mechanism for washing machines



F. WILSON REVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed March 6, 1928 3Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 20, 1929. F. WILSON REVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASHINGMACHINES 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6 Aug. 20, 1929. w soREVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 6,1928 Patented Aug. 20, 192:1.

FRANK WILSON, OF BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.

REVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES.

Application filed March 6, 1928. Serial No. 259,513.

This invention relates to washing machines, and particularly to certainimprovements in the gearing shown in my Patent #1A684388, granted onSeptember 18, 1923.

The patent above referred to illustrates a washing machine wherein thereis an outer tank, an inner cylindrical clothes holder disposed withinthe tank, the tank being filled or partially filled with water, and theclothes holder being mounted to rotate continuously in one direction solong as the power is applied thereto unlessreversed by hand.

The general object of the present inven tion is to provide animprovement upon this construction by providing automatic means forsecuring an intermittent reversal of the movement of the drum or clothesholder.

Other and more specific objects will appear in the course of thefollowing descrip tion.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figurel is a side elevation of. a washing machine with gearing embodying theimprovements of the present invention Figure 2 is a transverse sectionalview on the line 22 of Figure 1;

F igure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the machine;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the gearing as it would appear lookingfrom the inside of the machine with the parts in neutral postion;

Figure 5 is a similar but fragmentary view showing the parts in one ofthe operating positions;

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a detail view of a locking device employed.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the washing machinecomprises an outer tank constructed in two sections, the lower sectionbeing designated 10 and the upper section 11. The upper section isoperatively hinged to the lower section so that it may be turned up andthis tank may be of any suitable form and the cover or lid section ofthe tank is preferably semi-cylindrical in form. The tank provided atits upper end with means 12 whereby it may be filled with water to anydesired height and the latching means 13 whereby the two sections may beheld closed. This outer tank is supported upon a frame, designatedgenerally 14, including vertically extending egs. Disposed within theouter tank is an oscillatable cylindrical drum 15 which is preferablyinformed in two sections, the sections being hinged to each other at 16and provided with latching means atthe opposite end. The perimeter ofthis drum 15 is perforated, as at 17, and the side walls of the drum arealso perforated, as at 17. The drum also is provided with inwardlyextending flanges or paddles 18 which act to support the clothes withinthedrum and cause thevclothes to move around with the drum. So far, theconstruction is such as described in my patent above referred to.

The drum is mounted upon trunnions 19 and 20, the trunnion 20 being inthe form of a shaft supported in suitable bearings in the frame andextending out therefrom and supporting upon it the gear wheel 21;, Thisgear wheel 21 meshes with two pinioiis 22 and 23 also mounted upon theframe in the manner shown in Figure 4, and the gear wheel 21 adjacentits center is provided with the beveled gear teeth 24. Mounted upon atransversely extending frame bar 25 which forms part of the framesupporting the gearing is a transversely extending shaft 26 having abeveled pinion 27 at its inner end meshing with the beveled gear teeth24. The opposite end of this shaft is provided with a pinion 28 whichextends through the slot in the cross bar 25 and engages the teeth on arotatable nut 29 whose function will be later described.

For the purpose of driving the gear wheel 21, I providea driving shaft30 which is supported in any suitable manner upon the frame of themachine and is connected to a motor M in any suitable way, this drivingshaft carrying upon it a pinion 31. Oscillatably mounted upon thedriving shaft as upon a. center is a lever 32 which carries upon it agear wheel 33 which meshes with the pinion 31 at all times and whichalso meshes with a pinion 34 also mounted upon the lever to one side ofthe middle thereof.

Disposed in engagement with the pinion 22 is a gear wheel 35 and meshingwith the pinion 23 is a gear wheel 36. Each of these gear wheels has arelatively large radius in comparison with the radius of the pinions 23.These gear wheels 35 and 36 are mount ed in suitable bearings upon thevertical supporting bars 37 of the gear supporting frame, whichsupporting bars engage with and support the transverse bar 25. Byshifting the lever 32 to the right hand side in Figure 4, the gear wheel33 will be brought in direct contact with the gear-wheel 35 and thus thedrum gear wheel 21 and the drum itself will be driven in one direction.When the lever is shifted toward the left in Figure 4 the intermediategear wheel 34 will mesh with the gear wheel 36 and, therefore, a reverserotation will be transmitted to the drum gear wheel 21 and drum.

In order to secure the automatic reversal of the direction of rotationof the drum, it is necessary to shift the lever 32 automatically inopposite directions. To this end, I mount upon the outer face of thecross bar 25 a transversely shiftable rod 38, one-half of which isserew-threaded, as at 39. The toothed nut 29 before referred to is, ofcourse, internally screw-tlu'eaded to engage with the screw-threadedportion 39 and this nut is held from any longitudinal movement by meansof the bearings 40 which are attached to the cross bar 25.

It will be obvious now that as the gear wheel 21 revolves, rotation inone direction will be communicated to the pinion 28 which will rotatethe nut' 29 and that this acting upon the screw-threads 39 will shiftthe slide bar 38 transversely of the machine and transversely to thelever 32. Attached to the ends of this slide rod 38 and moving therewithbut disposed above and in parallel relation to the bar 38 is a bar orrod 41 which is formed at separated points withthe upwardly extendingshoulders 42 having inclined faces 43. The lever 32 is de* flected so asto extend outward. of the outside face of the bar-41 and outward of therod 38, and this lever carries upon it a vertically disposed bolt 44urged downward by a spring 45, which'bolt at its lower end is adapted toengage in notches 46 formed in a cross bar 47 mounted upon the frame anddisposed outward of the cross bar 25. lVhen this latchbolt 44 is raisedagainst the action of the spring 45, it will be withdrawn from thenotches 46. but when depressed into one or the other of the notches itwill hold the lever to one side or the other of its neutral positionand, therefore, the lever will be held in such position that the gears33 and 34 will drive either the gear wheel 35 or the gear wheel 36.

Attached to the upper end of the lever on the rear face-thereof is acoiled contractile spring 48. This spring passes through an opening inthe middle of the rod 38 and this .spring is connected at its lower endto the lower middle portion of the lever 32. It. therefore, follows thatwhen the lever is shiftedin-one direction as, for instance, to-

ward the left in Figure 4 and the bolt 01 latch 44 is engaged in theleft hand notch 46 that as the nut 29 shifts the rod to the right, themiddle portion of the spring will be also pulled to the right, thusexerting a tension on the spring. As the bar 41 moves toward the rightin Figure 5 the left hand shoulder or cam portion 43 coming in contactwith the projection on the latch 44 will raise it against the action ofthe spring 45 and the minute the latch is raised out of the notch 46,the spring 48 will pull the lever quickly over until the latch 44 againengages in one of the notches 46. As soon as this has been done, thegear wheels 33 and 34 will be shifted by the lower end of the lever soas to reverse the motion of the drum and of the gear Wheel 21 and, asthis reverses, the motion of the nut will be reversed so that the rod 38will travel in a reverse direction and will repeat the action justdescribed, releasing the latch and causing the spring to again pull thelever reversely, which will, of course, reverse the motion of the drum.

The driving gears are of such proportion and the screw-threads 39 on therod 38 are of such pitch that the drum will rotate in one directionthirty-three times a minute and then reversely rotate thirty-three timesin the" opposite direction for the next minute and so on until the lever32 is shifted by hand to a neutral position. In this neutral position itis held by a hasp 49 which travels over the bar 47, this bar 47 beingprovided with an aperture 50 and the hasp having an aperture throughwhich a pin 51 on a chain 52 may be inserted, thus locking the lever 32in its neutral position with any of the gears 33 or 34 engaging therespective gears 35 and 36, whereupon the washing machine will come to astop.

Preferably the gearing heretofore described is disposed within an outerframe- 53 which is operatively connected at the narrow portion 54 to theupright members 37, this frame including a lower transverse bar 55having inwardly projecting bolts 56 whereby the gear supporting framemay be engaged with the washing machine itself. The cross bar 25 is alsoprovided with in wardly projecting bolts 57 engageable with the frame ofthe washing machine. This outer frame is held in spaced relation to thewashing machine by an inner frame 58 braced from the outer frame atintervals.

Extending over the space defined by the cross bar 25 and by the outersupporting bars 37 on the frame is a panel 59 comprising a marginalframe 60 and wire netting 61, and wire netting 62 is applied between theupright members 37 and the frame 53 and between the upper portion of theframe 53 and the cross bar 25 so that all of the gearing except thereciprocating rod 38, the reciproeating'bar 41 and the upper portion ofthe lever are enclosed or protected by this wire netting. The upper endof the lever is angularly bent at 63 so that the handle of the leverextends verticall upward just above the upper portion 0 the gearsupporting frame.

As described in my prior patent, there is mounted upon the supportingframe of the washing machine a blower, designated generally 64, havingtherein a fan 65. This blower extends upward and at its upper end opensinto the interior of the outer casing and the discharge of air from theblower into the outer casing is controlled by the valve 66. Within theblower casing there is disposed the rotatable fan 65, as previouslystated, which is mounted upon a shaft 67. This shaft carries upon it apinion 68.

Mounted upon the shaft 30 is a gear wheel 69 which is thus adapted to berotated by the motor and meshing at all times with this gear 69 is agear wheel 70 carried by a lever 71, this lever extending upwardly andlaterally through an opening in the gear housing or gear case and beingprovided with a hand operated latch 7 2 of ordinary form whereby thelever may be locked in either of two positions, this latch operatingupon a vertical portion of the frame, designated 73, having notches '74for the reception of the latch.

When the lever is in one position, the gear wheel 70 will be out of meshwith the pinion 68. When the gear wheel is moved in the other direction,however, it will be in mesh with the pinion 68 and power will betransmitted to the fan of the blower. It will be understood that thisblower is not to be operated when the tank has water in it, but

when the tank has no water in it or the Water has been let out throughthe drain pipe 75, then the blower may be operated to blow a blast ofair into the tank and this, as the drum is rotated, will cause theclothes to be dried off. Of course, the valve 66 may be used to controlthis jet of air or to cut it off entirely.

The operation of the mechanism has been heretofore described in detailso it is not believed necessary to reiterate it, except to state, in ageneral way that after the clothes have been placed within theoscillatable clothes holder the lever 32 is shifted from a neutralposition into one of its inclined ositions, and this starts the machineby throwing the gears carried by the lever into engagement with one orthe other of the gear wheels 35 or 36. Thereafter the relatlon isautomatic in its character and reverses after any predetermined numberof revolutions. The clothes are, therefore, constantly tumbled about inthe water which fills the interior of the drum or clothes holder andthis, of course, acts to cleanse the clothes. The rotation of theclothes in one direction followed by a, plurality of reverse rotationsfrom the spirit of the invention as defined.

in the appended claims. Preferably, though not necessarily, the gearingfor driving the drum and the blower.with the casing in which the gearingis mounted is removable as a unit from the side of the washing machine.

I claim 1. Driving mechanism for washing machines comprising a drivenshaft and means for oscillating the driven shaft in opposite directionscomprising gear w'heels operatively connected to the driven shaft torotate it,

a drive shaft, a driving gear thereon, av

shiftable lever and a gear carried thereby meshing with the drivinggear, an intermediate pinion carried by the lever and meshing with thegear on the lever, the lever when shifted in one direction carrying theintermediate pinion into engagement with one of the first named gearwheels and when shifted in the other direction carrying the gear on thelever into engagement with the other of said first named gear .wlieels,means operating automatically after a predetermined number of rotationsof the driven shaft causing the lever to shift from one position to itsother position including a gear wheel connected to and rotating with thedriven shaft, a transversely extending rod having screw-threads, atoothed nut on said screw-threads held from longitudinal movementconnected to and operated by the gear wheel on the driven shaft,resilient means carried by said screw-threaded rod and yieldingly engaging the lever and acting to urge the lever in the direction ofmovement of the rod, means for latching the lever -ineither of itsshifted positions, and means reciprocating with the screw-threaded rodacting to release said latching means when the screw-threaded rod hasmoved a predetermined amount.

2. In a driving mechanism of the character described a driven shaft andmeans for oscillating the driven shaft in opposite directions comprisinggear wheels operatively connected to the driven shaft to rotate it, adrive shaft, a driving gear thereon, a shiftable lever and a gearcarried thereby meshing with the driving gear, an intermediate pinioncarried by the lever and meshing After the clothes have with the gear onthe lever, the lever when shifted in one direction carrying theintermediate pinion into engagement with one of the first named gearwheels and when shifted in the other direction carrying the gear on thelever into engagement with the other of said first named gear wheels,means operating automatically after a predetermined number of rotationsof the driven shaft causing the lever to shift from one position to itsother position including a gear wheel connected to and rotating with thedriven shaft, atransversely extending rod having screwthreads, a toothednut on said screw-threads held from longitudinal movement connected toand operated by the gear wheel on the driven shaft, a resilient meanscarried by said screw-threaded rod and yieldingly engaging the lever andacting to urge the lever in the direction of movement of the rod,meansifor latching the lever in either of its shifted positions, a barcarried by and movable with the screwthreaded rod and having shouldersformed with inclined faces, the shoulders acting alternately to releasethe latching means of said lever and thereby permit the lever to shiftto its other position upon each complete reciprocation of thescrew-threaded rod.

3. In driving mechanism of the character described a driven shaft, agear wheel mounted upon the shaft,means for intermittently reversing thedirection of movement of the gear wheel including a pair of gear wheelshaving operative connection with the gear wheel on the driven shaft, adriving gear wheel, a lever pivoted upon the axis of the driving gearwheel, a gear wheel carried by the lever and meshing with the drivinggear wheel and adapted when the lever is thrownin one direction toengage with one of said pair of gear wheels, a pinion mounted upon saidlever and meshing with the gear wheel mounted thereon and adapted whenthe lever is thrown in the other direcion to mesh with the otherof saidpair of gear wheels, means for'intermittently shifting said leverincluding a transversely ex tending rod slidingly mounted in bearings,one portion of the rod being screw-threaded, a toothed nut engaging thescrew-threaded rod and held from lateral movement, means for rotatingsaid toothed nut from the gear wheel on the,driven shaft, a springconnected at its middle to saidrod and at its ends to the lever, saidspring acting as the rod is shifted in one or the other directiontovurge the lever in the direction of pull of the spring, a latchcarried by the lever, a cross bar having notches with which the latch isadapted to engage to hold the lever in either of two adjusted positionsand thereby hold the gearwheel and pinion carried by the lever inengagement with one or the other of the first named pair of gear wheels,

and means for releasing said latch comprising a transversely extendingbar carried by the threaded rod and having spaced shoulders formed withinclined faces adapted to alternately engage and lift the latch.

l. In driving mechanism of the character described, a driven shaft, agear wheel mounted upon the driven shaft, means for intermittentlyreversing the direction of movement of the gear wheel including a pairof gear wheels having operative connection with the gear wheel on thedriven shaft, a driving gear wheel, a lever pivoted upon the axis of thedriving gear wheel, a gear wheel carried by the lever and meshing withthe driving gear wheel and adapted when the lever is thrown in onedirection to engage with one of said pair of gear wheels, a pinionmounted upon said lever and meshing wit-h the gear wheel mounted thereonand adapted when the lever is thrown in the other direction to mesh withthe other of said pair of gear wheels, means for intermittently shiftlngsaid lever includ- 111g a transversely extending rod slidinglv mountedin bearings, one portion of the rod I being screw-threaded, a toothednut engaging the screw-threaded rod and held from lateral movement,means for rotating said toothed nut .from the gear wheel on the drivenshaft, a spring connected at its middle to said rod and at its ends tothe lever, said spring acting as the rod is shifted in one or the otherdirection to urge the lever in the direction of pull of the spring, alatch carried by the lover, a. cross bar having notches with which thelatch is adapted to engage to hold the lever in either of two adjustedpositions and thereby hold the gear wheel and pinion carried by thelever in engagement with one or the other of the first named pair ofgear wheels, means for releasing said latch comprising a transverselyextending bar carried by the threaded rod and having spaced shouldersformed with inclined faces adapted to alternately engage and lift thelatch, and means for locking the lever in a neutral position.

5. In a gearing of the character described, a rotatable element, a pairof driving gears 'operatively engaged therewith, a driving gear wheeland a pinion geared thereto alternately engageable with the drivinggears, respectively, means for driving the driving gear wheel, a leversupporting the driving gear wheel and pinion and adapted when shifted inone direction to carry the driving gear wheel into engagement with oneof said driving gears and when shifted in the other direction to carrythe pinion into engagement with the other of said driving gears, andmeansfor automatically shifting said lever comprising a rack with whichthe lever coacts having two locking notches adapted to hold the levereither in one of its positions or in the other of its positions, a bolton the lever adapted to engage said notches, an element shiftableparallel to the movement of the lever having two cam portions thereonadapted to alternately engage the bolt and lift it from one or the otherof the notches, means for operatively connecting the shiftable elementto the rotatable element whereby to shift the shiftable element as therotatable element rotates, and means carried by the shiftable elementand connected to the lever exerting tension on the lever and acting toshift the lever suddenly from one of its two positions to the other ofits positions.

6. In a gearing of the character described, a rotatable element, a pairof drivin gears operatively engaged therewith, a riving gear wheel and apinion geared thereto alternately engageable with the driving gears,respectlvely, means for driving the driving gear wheel, a leversupporting the driving gear wheel and pinion and adapted when shifted inone direction to carry the driving gear wheel into engagement with oneof said driving gears and when shifted in the other direction to carrythe pinion into engagement with the other of said driving gears andmeans for automatically shifting sai lever comprising a rack with whichthe lever coacts having two locking notches adapted to hold the levereither in one of its positions or in the other of its positions, a bolton the lever adapted to engage said notches, an element shiftableparallel to the movement of the lever having two cam portions thereonadapted to alternately engage the bolt and lift it from one or the otherof the notches, means for operatively connecting the shiftable elementto the rotatable element whereby to shift the shiftable element as therotatable element rotates, and a spring connected to said lever and tothe shiftable element and placed under tension when the shiftableelement shifts away from the lever and acting, when the bolt isreleased, to shift the lever suddenly from one of its operativepositions to the other of its operative positions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

FRANK WILSON.

